Summers are often a quiet time of year for Hillels on college campuses. For Oregon Hillel, serving the University of Oregon in Eugene and Oregon State University in Corvallis, it’s been anything but.

For starters, Oregon Hillel is in the closing stages of securing a multi-year lease for programming space in Corvallis. It will be the first time that Hillel programming at OSU has had a space to call its own; Hillel has previously shared space at Westminster House in Corvallis with United Campus Ministry, a cross-denominational progressive Christian organization. With a significant contribution from the Zidell family, Executive Director Lenny Steinberg explained, the organization will be moving into a former Wells Fargo branch on Northwest Kings Boulevard seven blocks north of the OSU campus.

“The space is going to be able to accommodate office space, a small wellness lounge, probably a small spiritual life and religious library and study area, as well as space to host roughly 50 to 60 students for Shabbat dinner or larger programs, whatever that may be,” Steinberg said. “It has been a long time coming.”

A hint of the building’s past life will still remain – as part of a contract with the building’s owners, Wells Fargo will still operate an ATM on the outside of the facility.

“The students are really excited. I’ll be honest, I think if we had any space, they would just be thrilled that it’s home,” Steinberg said. “WestM [the colloquial name for United Campus Ministry] has been a lovely home for us for about a decade.”

The new Corvallis outpost will host the continuation of Oregon Hillel’s programming through the Building Bridges Fellowship. Funded by Hillel International, Oregon Hillel hosted an eight-week series of programs that brough Jewish students together with Hindu Youth for Unity, Virtues and Action. The grant for Hillel’s work at Oregon State has been renewed for another year, while a second grant to bring the program to University of Oregon has been awarded. Building Bridges at UO will connect with the Persian Student Association, while OSU’s program this year will work with the Iranian Student Association.

“What a time to build bridges with that community,” Steinberg said of the Hillel/ISA connection. “Talk about really doing the work.”

The new space at OSU will also serve as the office for one of the four new staff members Oregon Hillel has brought on this summer. Jo Eisenberg will serve as OSU Engagement Associate along with Megan Steinberg as the group’s Director of Engagement and Rabbi Bryan Chustckie as Rabbi and Director of Jewish Life and Ezra Lueck as the team’s Springboard Fellow, based in Eugene.

Rabbi Chustckie received ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary at Yeshiva University and has served in rabbinic roles at the Manhattan Jewish Experience in New York and The Happy Minyan in Los Angeles, as well as positions at Torahverse Acton Academy and Harkham Hillel. His appointment returns a rabbi to the Oregon Hillel team for the first time since the departure of Rabbi Meir Goldstein.

“[Rabbi Chustckie] is going to bring a really deep knowledge to our students. The way he’s already interacting with them, the idea he’s bringing to the table, I’m really excited about Rabbi Bryan coming on board,” Steinberg said.

Rabbi Chustckie will also, thanks to Hillel’s new premises in Corvallis, be able to hold services and other spiritual programs for Oregon State students. This opportunity for Jewish spiritual engagement is a significant point of emphasis for Steinberg.

“If you’re not from Portland or Eugene, Jewish life didn’t really exist for you, and you were probably one of the only Jews in your town. It’s rural Oregon,” he said, “So there are a lot of students who are truly experiencing this for the first time.”

Megan Steinberg, Lenny’s wife, has previously served in roles at the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education and the Eastside Jewish Commons. Most recently, she was the co-chair for the Jewish Employee Resource Group at financial services firm CashApp. Lenny Steinberg did not know that Megan was going to apply for the job until, he explained, he woke up one morning to an email with her resume and cover letter.

“We’re working hard to like make the right protocols and boundaries and make it not just work, but make it special and fun,” Lenny Steinberg said. “The truth of the matter is that all of our students already feel that I married way above my grade and she’s way cooler than I am.”

The increased staff will enable Oregon Hillel to focus on engagement in a strategic way.

“Right now, we’re at 55 to 60 percent,” Steinberg said, referencing the portion of Jewish students who are engaging with Hillel programming, “and I really want to see us get to 70 percent. I think that this new engagement model that we have, we can get there.”

Some of those students are engaging in very significant ways. UO Senior Rachel Lennard has been named as a co-chair of the Hillel International Student Cabinet for the coming academic year. This 20-person body, hailing from campuses around the world, advises Hillel International staff; Lennard and fellow co-chair Ben Small of the University of Pennsylvania will also sit on Hillel International’s Board of Directors.

“She now gets to kind of help lead the charge and build the framework for what student life on campus looks like through the Hillel lens with her peers from all different universities from around the country,” Steinberg said of Lennard. “It’s a really exciting opportunity.”

PHOTO: This rendering depicts the projected apperance of Oregon Hillel's new location on Northwest Kings Boulevard in Corvallis. The former Wells Fargo bank branch will be Oregon Hillel's first dedicated space serving Oregon State University students. (Courtesy Oregon Hillel)